image: Pillow Talk, Universal, 1959
I have neck issues so I spend 15 minutes stretching my neck pre-bedtime. This provides me with a perfect window of time for pillow talk with my husband John. Poor guy… Here’s where things went the other night.
Me: Sweetie, do you think it’s safe for Em to go to that Chelsea Piers Gymnastics camp tomorrow?
John: Why wouldn’t it be?
Me: I don’t know. I just feel nervous after we heard about that father who broke a vertebrae on the trampoline at his daughter’s party this winter.
John: It’s perfectly safe. That was a one-off circumstance. He tried to do a back flip.
Me: No, that’s what Emma said but I think he was just jumping and lost his balance.
John: Lindley, you are an animal.
Me: No John, you are an animal! (I will allow you to imagine the tone used for this line…)
John: No, I mean we are all animals and just like any other we have instincts. We have to hone those instincts. These days we are all way too protective of our kids. Our instincts exist to help us protect ourselves from dangerous situations. We have the instincts to protect ourselves when we need to. That’s how it used to be.
Me: John, it’s a miracle we survived our childhoods.
John: If you ask me we need more of that today. Kids need to explore and be free. It’s just like Darwin said. It’s about survival of the fittest. We adapt to our circumstances. If kids are removed from all challenging situations then eventually over time they will no longer have the instinct to learn and overcome.
Me: Ok. I guess she’ll go to camp. But if she gets hurt you are in deep deep trouble.
John: silence
Me: Animals…
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